Town have offered professional contracts to Massimo Luongo, Sone Aluko and Tawanda Chirewa, but have announced the release of Joel Coleman, Richard Keogh, Matt Penney and Kane Vincent-Young as well as 10 U21s players.

The Blues were required to submit their retained list to the EFL on Saturday and have now made it public.

It comes as little surprise that Luongo has been offered new terms, the Australian international having joined Town for a second spell following a trial in January - he was previously on loan from Tottenham at the start of 2012/13 - after spending the first half of the campaign with Middlesbrough without playing a first-team game.

The 30-year-old made 13 starts and three sub appearances, scoring twice, including the second in the 6-0 hammering of Exeter which confirmed promotion back to the Championship.

Town didn’t lose a single game that the former Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon and QPR man played in.

Aluko’s offer of new terms might be viewed as more of a surprise, the 34-year-old having made only four League One starts during 2022/23, a knee injury in August having hampered his campaign, although manager Kieran McKenna spoke about the role the forward played in the dressing room during the season.

The former Nigerian international joined Town in the summer of 2021 having left Reading at the end of the previous season and having had a spell on trial with Derby.

Overall, Aluko has made 31 starts and 24 sub appearances in his two seasons with the Blues, scoring three times.

Academy product Chirewa has previously turned down the offer of new terms with the Blues, Town having taken up the one-year option in his previous deal.

The 19-year-old forward, who West Ham were keen to sign last summer, has made one senior start and two sub appearances for the Blues.

It seems likely that Town have made the contract offer in order to make sure they receive compensation when he moves to another club rather than with an expectation that he will sign.

Of those departing, central defender Keogh returned to the club where he had been an academy schoolboy in August last year from Blackpool.

The 36-year-old former Republic of Ireland international went on to make 11 starts and five sub appearances for the Blues.

Despite their lack of games, McKenna recently praised the role played by Aluko and Keogh during the season.

“They’re absolutely huge,” he said. “I have to say, and it’s one thing I don’t think people will realise until you’re in and around it, the impact that the mood and the dynamic in the squad will have on their performances and the preparation for games, which in the end dictates the performances.

“We’re very fortunate with that, fortunate with the characters we have in the building. Richard Keogh and Sone Aluko have both been absolutely outstanding, have had a massive impact on the season.

“Richard Keogh in my opinion has had a massive impact on the clean sheet record that we have and our defensive record because of the way that he works every day, the way that the other centre-halves can learn habits and traits from him, the way that he speaks to them.

“And Sone has had a massive impact, not just on the pitch in games that he’s played like Richard where they’ve played some important games and minutes for us, that have made a difference.

“But also in his impact on developing the other players, developing the younger players, speaking to them, being a voice, being a mentor and setting a terrific example in training.

“I think those two players as an example, we’re lucky to have them. Of course, they would both like to play more, it’s not easy for them not playing as many minutes as they would want to play, but they also understand that the team has been performing very well.”

We understand Keogh plans to continue playing and will be looking for a club at League One or Two level.

Vincent-Young joined the Blues from Colchester United for £500,000 in the summer of 2019 - having been on trial the previous summer without being offered a contract - and made an excellent start to his Town career before suffering an injury in his ninth game.

That knock and further subsequent injuries as he made his return saw the Londoner sidelined for the next 17 months.

However, the full-back was never able to hit the heights of his early spell and in 2022/23 made only two League One starts in addition to 16 appearances from the bench, as well as another four starts in cup competitions.

Overall, Vincent-Young made 42 starts and 22 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring twice, in consecutive matches during his early games after his move.

Keeper Joel Coleman signed for Town on a short-term deal in November after third-choice Nick Hayes picked up an injury playing for the U21s having left Rochdale last summer.

The 27-year-old signed another deal which ran to the end of the season in January but never made a senior appearance for the Blues, although was on the first-team bench for the FA Cup games against Bracknell and Rotherham.

Left-back Penney joined the Blues on a free transfer in the summer of 2021 after leaving Sheffield Wednesday.

The 25-year-old made 21 starts and five sub appearances during 2021/22, most of them under Paul Cook, scoring once.

Last summer, he was sent out on loan to Motherwell, where he enjoyed a successful spell, before joining Charlton in January, where he made only three starts and two appearances from the bench.

Janoi Donacien’s contract was due to end this summer but the club exercised a one-year option in his deal last month.

This season’s loanees, George Hirst and Tyreece John-Jules, have returned to Leicester City and Arsenal respectively, although it’s expected the Blues will look to sign the Foxes frontman on a permanent basis, while the Gunners forward also enjoyed his time at Portman Road and might well favour a return to the club on loan or on a permanent basis should he be in McKenna’s plans.

Town have also released 10 members of the U21s squad including central defender Albie Armin, who TWTD revealed has spent time on trial at Brentford and West Brom and we understand also recently trained with AFC Bournemouth.

Midfielder Matt Healy, who is currently on loan with his hometown club Cork City, U21s skipper Fraser Alexander, who has been on loan with Cheshunt for most of the season, and Wales U19 international keeper Lewis Ridd are also among those being let go.

Speaking to TWTD in March, after the young players had been told they could move on, Mark Ashton said the club isn't keen to hold on to players for too long.

“It’s [director of football operations] Gary [Probert]’s area. It’s that time of year, it’s always difficult. But what we’re not going to do is warehouse players,” he said.

“I know previous regimes would do that because I’ve had conversations with Lee [O’Neill] when he was here, they were always scared to death to release players.

“I don’t think that’s fair on the players, it’s tough, but I just don’t believe in warehousing them for the sake of warehousing them.

“And I think what you’ve seen now, when you’ve got the likes of Kieran [McKenna] and his coaching staff, the demands are going to be even higher, so they’ve got to be really sure they’ve got a chance.”

Released U21s: Fraser Alexander, Albie Armin, Harley Curtis, Alfie Cutbush, Matt Healy, Max Hudson, Brooklyn Kabongolo, Callum Page, Lewis Ridd, Charlie Woods.

Photo: Matchday Images

blueboy1981 added 21:58 - May 24 This is now the period of ‘time' between Euphoria and the reality of Squeaky Bum time. There is an awful lot to do now we are in the Championship - to ensure the Squad is not only as Strong as last Season - but even Stronger, which will be NEEDED. It's not going to be a ‘stroll in the Championship Park' as some seen to have settled on the idea of it so being…. !!! No easy Games ahead where we are now, as we'll find out ! We need to, and must be up for it … !!!

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Henz10 added 23:22 - May 25 I would've released Aluko. Barely played last season and is clearly past his best Didn't rate JJ either don't want him back. Need to buy Hirst outright and tell him he's the main man can see him tearing it up
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